Two years ago, when then-Brown head coach Craig Robinson first signed at the Providence, R.I., school, he didn't cross too many borders to find his first assistant coach. He tabbed Jesse Agel, then an assistant at nearby Vermont.
Now, when the Bears had to fill Robinson's shoes after he left for Oregon State April 7, they stayed even closer to home, moving right down the bench to promote Agel to head coach.
"Jesse brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and years of experience to the position," Brown Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger said while introducing Agel at Monday's press conference, which was broadcast online.
"Jesse views coaching to be about teaching, and that's something that Brown is all about and what I look for in all of our head coaches."
Agel may have trouble following in his predecessor's footsteps. Not only did Robinson gain national attention as the brother-in-law of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, but his record in his first two years (30-28, 17-11 Ivy) was better than every Brown head coach before him.
Last year, Robinson led the Bears to a historic season that included a school record for victories (19) and a birth in the first-ever College Basketball Invitational.
Quakers fans may be relieved to see someone else on the Brown sidelines. Robinson coached his squad to the program's first-ever sweeps of Penn and Princeton and was on the winning side of the most lopsided loss in Quakers history, a 75-43 thumping March 1 in Providence.
Agel comes with a deep resume and a reputation as a successful coach and recruiter. He began his coaching career in the 1984-85 season as a volunteer student assistant at Vermont. He then spent two years coaching in the high school ranks before returning to his alma mater as an assistant under Tom Brennan.
With Agel on the sideline, the Catamounts appeared in the America East Conference Championship game every year from 2003-06, winning back-to-back-to-back championships from 2003-05.
Agel is also credited for his role in recruiting many standouts for the Catamounts, including America East Players of the Year T.J. Sorrentine and Taylor Coppenrath.
His biggest achievement, though, may have been helping to coach the 2005 Vermont team to a 60-57 overtime upset of Big East champions Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
And as much as Agel would like to be on the sidelines for another NCAA Tournament victory, getting back there may prove difficult. Brown has not won the Ivy League since 1986. But the new coach is undeterred.
"Our goal's going to remain the same," he said. "Which is the relentless pursuit for Ivy League championships."
